In The Shadow of Your Heart
by Mathematical Concepts
Summary: After a terrible accident, Kagome dies, only to come back as a...zombie? Ghost? Some other strange, celestial being? She's not sure, but she does know one thing...the person who killed her can't apologize to her, or else she'll disappear forever. Rated T just in case.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Inuyasha_, anything by Florence + The Machine, or anything else that is NOT MINE. Kaysies? Which is everything but OC's, but those'll come later.

Thank you for giving this a try!

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**Chapter One - "_What, I don't even…"_**

_Exactly_.

I don't even _know _what happened.

It was like, one moment I was standing in front of that stupid club, arguing with my EX-boyfriend about him and his stupidness, his whore standing behind him screeching at me like a rancid banshee, and then BAM.

I died.

How? Honestly, I have no earthly idea. But, what I can tell you, was that I wasn't exactly dead. Well, I did honestly die, like cold-no-heartbeat-proclaimed-dead-by-hospital dead. However, I came back.

No! I did not come back a zombie!

No…I came back as a ghost.

And not your average ghost, either. I couldn't walk through walls, I didn't have mind powers, I couldn't possess people…

Not at first, anyway.

I knew at first I was a ghost because…well…I don't know, I just knew.

I don't even remember how I got from the sidewalk to my front porch.

Well, my family flipped the hell out at first, my brother mainly. Mom was surprised, but not as freaked out, which in turn freaked me out that she accepted it so easily. Grandpa didn't react at all. Actually, it seemed like…he had known all along. Which was definitely weird.

Then, he had taken me by the hand (oh yeah, I was a solid ghost, which was definitely weird) and took me out to the storage shed, the whole while mumbling about legends and prophecies coming true. When we got there, he went straight to the very back of the building before coming back with an old, crumpled-looking scroll.

"This," he began, being as serious as an old man talking to his supposed-to-be-dead granddaughter, "holds your prophecy, courtesy of your late grandmother. Do. Not. Lose. It. It could mean life or death, or in your case, another death. Except next time, you won't come back."

That was comforting. So since then, I've held on to that scroll for dear life, and to this day, I could probably make a copy of it in the same exact penmanship word for word, I've studied it so much.

Then, after he gave that to me, the obvious had to happen – I needed to be disguised until they could find somewhere for me to go. There, of course, was the option of all of us moving together (I was NOT going to let that happen), or at least Souta going with me, since he would be going off to college in another area of the world. He refused, and said he didn't want his dead sister hanging around in case I did learn something ghostly (I don't remember when the school's star quarterback became such a pussy) and scared away any chicks he might meet.

I agreed, of course, but then, as we were discussing my options, I felt it. This odd pull on my gut (I didn't even realize it was my soul, or that I even still had it, until later) that was urging me outside. Naturally, I followed it once everyone decided to go to bed (and of course, Souta had grandpa recite a holy rite and place sutras all around his room…pussy), which was when I discovered that not once through dinner had I eaten, or even felt hungry. However, that pull was growing to be a major annoyance, so I followed it out of the house, down the shrine steps, and into the city.

Was I afraid of seeing someone I knew? Not really, since it was the beginning of summer break, and everyone had gone off to the beach, or to the States, or wherever they went. But, just as a precaution, I tried to take back alleys hardly anyone went down, and where I had to go out to the street, I tried to avoid walking under street lamps.

As I neared the center of the city, I realized where that pull was taking me – to the place where I died.

There were cop cars everywhere, people standing around watching as detectives looked around the crime scene with notepads and magnifying glasses, looking for evidence, I assume. I also saw a very new Chevrolet Camero (some model car from the States) wrapped around the same streetlight that I had stood under right before I died…

Then I realized what time it was.

It had been about eleven at night when I ran after Hojo as he and his whore (I done forgot her name now) were trying to leave. I glanced at a clock through a nearby store window. It was 1:34.

I almost turned back – almost – but that nagging feeling would NOT go away, so I walked towards the crowd carefully, trying to avoid bumping in to anyone as I peered over them.

There was a lot of blood everywhere, my blood, I realized with a nervous swallow. I then noticed a small group of people inside the caution lines, three males, all with silver hair, and two females, both with dark hair. I instantly noticed the youngest male, and with a spark of anger, put together what had happened as the familiarity of the wrecked car came to me.

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**Flashback**

"_Kagome!"_

_I turned towards the voice, smiling genuinely as Inuyasha, my long time best friend and secret crush, came running up to me, dangling something in his hand. "Look!"_

"_Great…" Hojo muttered next to me, thoroughly annoyed at the interruption. I rolled my eyes – I wasn't in the mood to put up with Hojo, so excuse me if I was happy for the interruption. "Inuyasha, hey!"_

"_Come look! Dad bought it for me as an early birthday present!" Inuyasha said excitedly, his unusual amber eyes bright as he smiled cheekily at me. "If you're nice, I might let you drive it!"_

"_He got you another car?" I asked, starting to feel slightly apprehensive. "What happened to the other one?"_

"_Kouga wrecked it, remember?"_

_Oh yeah. I had forgotten that Inuyasha's stupid cousin had borrowed it the previous weekend and went out on a drinking binge, which in result, ended with a wrecked car. Surprisingly, Kouga got out of it unscathed, but at least he was okay. "Sorry, I didn't think about it."_

"_Keh, whatever. Come on, hurry!" He said with a burst of energy, grabbing my wrist before pulling me behind him. I huffed, ignoring Hojo's glare as I was dragged out to the parking lot._

_A small group of people (mainly people from the football team, including Souta) was already gathered around it, each murmuring about how shiny and new it was._

"_Yo, Inu! Nice ride, dude."_

"_It's so pretty!"_

"_I want one!"_

_ Damn that shiny red car._

* * *

I _knew_ when I first laid eyes on that car, I had a bad feeling about it. But, instead of hurting Inuyasha's feelings about it, I pretended to ooh and ahh over it, too.

Still…damn that car!

"She was a beaut, wasn't she?"

I jumped, my eyes widening as I spun on my heel to face a pair of withered, but familiar, brown eyes.

"Grandpa?"

"I followed you here." Grandpa sighed, rubbing his hands together slowly. "I know what you're feeling, and there's a reason for that. You need to go talk to him."

"Talk to who, Inuyasha?" I glanced back through the throng of people towards the Tashio family. Inuyasha was hugging his mother tightly, his face buried in her neck as his father talked to a police officer. A brown-haired guy, Kouga, I assumed, was currently arguing with another cop, who didn't look like he was buying into whatever Kouga was telling him.

"That feeling you're feeling in your gut…that's your soul. It's calling to you to make a choice – reconcile and forgive, or take your revenge."

I started at that last part. Take my revenge? "But Grandpa, look! Inuyasha wasn't the one driving the car! Plus, if I went and talked to him now, wouldn't it be freaking people out?"

Grandpa just sighed, shaking his head sadly as he looked at me again. "Are you completely sure about that? How do you know he knew it was you he ran over? From what your mother and I saw on the news, the body was pretty mangled up."

I blanched. Mangled? Good Kami, how face were they driving?

"Just go talk to him. Tell him the truth, if it helps. It's the only way you can move on."

I stopped again, my breath catching in my throat. "M…move on…?"

"You're a _ghost_, Kagome." Grandpa said fiercely, catching me by surprise. "Ghosts don't belong in the world of the living; you don't belong here."

"Are…are you serious?" I almost screeched, before remembering that there were tons of people around. I lowered my voice, but the anger was still there, "I can't believe you said that, grandpa! What about that scroll? Was I supposed to read it before I came here?"

"Have you?"

"No…?"

"Good. Don't." He said with finality, nodding his head once before gripping my elbow with a strength I didn't know he had. "Come, let's go speak to Inuyasha."

I planted my feet to the ground, throwing my body back from his grip. "No! I'm not ready to go, Grandpa."

"Kagome, you will do as I say. You will go speak to him, pull him aside, tell him the truth, and get him to apologize to you."

"Why do I need to get him to apologize to me?" I asked, but stiffened when it clicked.

True, I hadn't had time to read the whole scroll, but I did glance at it. Towards the bottom, written in neat, faded writing, was a list that had caught my eye, but I only read the first two things.

The first one was not to tell anyone about my predicament.

Second, don't have the responsible one apologize.

I furrowed my brows, studying the squat old man before me. His posture was tense, his own brows furrowed in anger, and his eyes…determination? Fear? Was he scared of me because I was a ghost? Or that I would actually do what he said, and disappear?

Mind made up, I spun on my heel, racing away from Grandpa, the scene, everything. I didn't bother to sputter out excuses and apologies as I pushed through people, ignoring their comments as I headed towards home.

I noticed a few things when I finally made it to the stairs. One, I wasn't out of breath. I breath in deeply, only to wrinkle my nose as the strange smell. Was that me?

Two, I didn't hurt. At all. I glanced down at my body, expecting to see scratches bruising, something. I quickly went to a random car parked nearby, glancing at myself in the reflection of the windows.

Nope, same old Kagome.

Which was strange, considering how my body was supposed to be all mangled up and whatnot.

Something else I noticed about my image was how _pretty_ I was. Never in my life have I thought myself no more than average looking, with average looking skin, an average nose and mouth, average hair, average…well, _everything_. But looking at my reflection, I noticed how pale and smooth my skin was, how bright of a blue my eyes were, and how luscious my hair was. Did it grow a few inches?

I stepped back, looking up at the sky as I thought. Would it be so bad to stick around a little longer? If I left Tokyo, maybe I could avoid Inuyasha and Kouga all together, and who knows, maybe I might have super powers that would let me survive, get a good job, make a name for myself.

I froze at a sudden thought.

What if someone recognized me as the girl who died? Wasn't I supposed to be dead? I could see it now – _Zombie Apocalypse,_ coming true!

I suddenly shook my head. Grandpa had said my body was pretty mangled…maybe they'll never discover who it was that was killed. If I could trust my family not to rat me out, and I could convince them not to put out a missing persons warrant out on me, maybe…

Maybe, just maybe, I could away with it. Only if for tonight, anyway.

We'll see.

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**MC**: Well? Comment, questions, concerns?

Now, I have combed this site and Dokuga with a gold-sprayed comb looking for anything like this story, and I haven't found anything like it yet...well, in the Inuyasha category. I have no intention copying anyone's idea, so if there's one like this, please let me know!

Anyway, this story is weird. And, as you can see, Kagome isn't your average ghost. NO, this is NOT an InuyashaxKagome fic, it will be SesshoumaruxKagome...just not right off the bat. I gotta leave some suspense, right? *giggles*

Now honestly, I have like, two other chapters written, but they're for later. Just so you know, there will be some OC's (not too sure how that'll turn out, but we'll see) so please bare with me as I try to get my creative juices going again. It's been a while, and it just hits me in spurts, so I'm trying to milk it all I can.

BTW, I'm so obsessed with Florence + The Machine right now, it's not funny. It's driving my boyfriend nuts...he doesn't appreciate good music, I suppose. So there might be some references, or snippets of music of something. Some of this was actually inspired by her music...I'll put a disclaimer up top for it.

Anyway, please, please PLEASE let me know whether this story is a yay or nay, pleaaaaaase?


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